04/02/2016

Baseball has been referred as "America's Pasttime" from generation to generation. Baseball has evolved just as technology and life has. The technological advancement has brought fans of all ages together better than it had in the past.

Major League Baseball saw a problem in sports so they knew that they had to be "fun" once again. They had to reach out to the younger generation in order to be popular. It wasn't the sport that was being past down from father to son anymore.

Why not create an Instagram so fans can see images of what was going on throughout the year? Other teams also adapted the idea and all created their own accounts.

When looking at MLB's Instagram account you can see the pictures aren't colorful or animated. It's the same way we all pictured baseball to be, bland and plain. Comparing it to the NHL's and NFL's account, it isn't the same with the others showing life and color that would appeal to younger fans.

"To make matters worse, many of the other pictures that MLB posted yesterday failed to make the mark. For instance, it posted a picture of Jose Reyes inspecting Jose Bautista’s beard. And another picture showed a grounds keeper in St. Louis watering the dirt. Grounds keepers have an important place in the game, but it’s just boring content. Other questionable pictures include a big group of friends posing for a picture outside of Yankee Stadium, and a man holding a sign claiming he won’t shave until the Tigers win the World Series...

- Here’s what I want to see: I want to see more pictures like Billy Hamilton scaling the wall to make a catch. I want to see Mike Trout hitting a home run, and Masahiro Tanaka striking someone out. There should be more pictures and videos of walk-offs, as well as the lighter moments in baseball like bloopers and players getting pied in the face. MLB could offer plays of the day, and Throwback Thursdays (#TBT) offering clips from “this day in baseball history.” They could do more for fantasy baseball, too. It's all about the number of likes and followers in which has baseball trailing behind Football and Hockey. Fans appeal most to the fun and interaction instead of just photography and text. Major League Baseball doesn't post videos but the others do which shows a lot."

The social media tool VenueSeen compiled these stats and more from publicly posted Instagram photos to create the infographic below. The company even broke down some of major league baseball's primary rivalries to see which teams own Instagram bragging rights so far this season.

The social media tool VenueSeen compiled these stats and more from publicly posted Instagram photos to create the infographic below. The company even broke down some of major league baseball's primary rivalries to see which teams own Instagram bragging rights so far this season.

03/20/2015

In 2012, a 23 year old female student in Delhi along with a male companion were victims of a vicious assault. The young woman had been brutally gang raped on a public bus for several hours before being left to fight for her life in a hospital. In the end her injuries were so bad that she died from them. Wishing to shed light on the crime, director Leslee Udwin interviewed one of the rapists in prison and made a documentary about it. The documentary titled "India's Daughter" has been banned from release in India.

Every country has problems with different forms of censorship, but one must wonder with India being the world's largest democracy, why is free speech being stifled? The home minister Rajnath Singh conveyed a feeling of shame brought to his country by the words of the rapist, Mukesh Singh. He and many others believe that the film glorifies the criminal and gives him a platform to share his sick and perverted views on women's place in Indian society. As noble of a gesture as this might be, banning the film undermines a much larger problem in Indian culture; despite being such an advanced nation, India is another in a long list of countries that suffers from misogynistic societal norms.

These norms include but are not limited to the popular South Asian practice of "Eve Teasing". Eve Teasing is in its simplest form, sanctioned sexual harassment. Women in South Asiancountries experience constant verbal abuse, groping, pinching, pushing, and poking from men who are just having "fun" in one of the most juvenile ways they can. There's a slew of laws and practices that value men over women in this culture, and perhaps that is the reason why showing this movie has been banned; it might not be that the country will be ashamed that five Indian men committed such an atrocity, but rather that the views expressed by these rapists coincide with views expressed by many people who have been raised in the same culture. The director (right) of the documentary has said that her work can be used as a "powerful tool for change".

The documentary has been unofficially screened in the slum homes of the rapists, and will hopefully be shown to more upper class Indian residents to enlighten them not only to the mindset of the men who committed the crime, but also to the underlying problem that as long as societies throughout the world, not just in India, continue to devalue women, these atrocities will continue to happen.

02/18/2015

Politics is often considered one of the taboo subjects one should not discuss, lest they wish to start an argument. People have particular convictions about political opinions, and will defend them to the death. So what are politicians to do when political satire comedian Al Murray made his bid for parliament? Popular for his on stage persona, "The Pub Landlord", Murray has decided to run as his character.

Not many are taking his bid seriously, including UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) leader Nigel Farage. Farage has sarcastically said that Murray is welcome in the race, and that there will be "serious competition". Farage has also shown no sign of being intimidated by tweeting "the more the merrier!" at Murray. Although Murray stands a slim chance of winning votes for any sort of office under his designated FUKP (Free United Kingdom Party), he does appear to have quite the historical and political knowledge one would look for in a candidate for office.

Murray's policies do not seem to warrant serious consideration, like taking the U.K. to outer space by 2025 or lowering the price of a pint of beer. Despite his most likely not attaining a seat inparliament, perhaps his running for office will do well to shake the apathy of younger voters who might take more of a notice in politics by seeing an entertainment figure in the political spotlight.

10/06/2014

On Thursday, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave permission to six television and film firms, which allows these firms to use drones are Astraeus Aerial, Aerial MOB, HeliVideo Productions, Pictorvision Inc., RC Pro Productions Consulting, and Snaproll Media.